What doesn't kill you
by Kuro Shi no Ikari
Summary: Rewrite of Whether or not, focusing a bit more on the background of Lin, plus a splash more humor. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Lin bounced back, but can Mai do the same?


**A/N: Hey! I know that you all want to kill me right about now, but here's the first part of that rewrite!**

**Lin**

Some secrets...are meant to stay hidden. At least...that's what my take on things used to be. Our story starts on a dark, stormy night. I'll never forget that day...Eight years ago...

**July, 1999**

_It had started as a normal day in London. Quiet. My partner, Jay and I had been doing our usual rounds, and nothing odd had turned up. That is...until a single shot had echoed across the city. _

_The sky had started to darken. A chill worked it's way down my spine, and no doubt everyone else's. Men dressed in black started appearing everywhere from nowhere at all. Their eyes glowed an eerie red._

_The seconds started to pool together before a torrent of gunfire littered the streets. Blood fell in rivers, and corpses began to pile up. Lightning flashed over our heads as we worked to save as many as we could. However, I could plainly see that it was for naught. The wounded outnumbered the paramedics 10;1 and we couldn't save all of them._

_I just tied a young woman's arm up in a sling when I noticed a child out of the corner of my eye. I turned and saw a boy no older than nine caught on a tree by his shoelace. A specter was aiming for him. _

_I heard Jay shift next to me._

"_Oh no. I know that look. Don't be a hero, Lin! Don't- LIN GET BACK HERE!"_

_I ignored him and dashed forward. I shielded the boy just as the specter pulled the trigger. A white light erupted from my body. A shock wave spread out from where I was and washed over the city, eliminating the specters and the major threat along with it. A warm feeling settled in my chest. A feeling of contentment that had never been there. 'We will serve you well' echoed in my head._

_As the light faded, a hissing voice faded along with it._

_'You will pay for thissssss ssssocerer...'_

_'Sorcerer? Wha?'_

"_Er...sir?" Something pulled on my sleeve. I looked down to see the boy tugging on it. He had a worried expression on his face._

"_Huh?" I was in a slight daze._

"_Look down. You're bleeding." He said. I looked down. The entire front of my shirt was stained red. Funny. I don't feel a thing._

"_Oh." I said dumbly, then fell over unconscious._

_**Strange Dark Space**_

_I was floating. Total black, lost, and no idea where the hell I was. Then a door appeared. Without any other options, I opened it and went in. Inside was a field with a starry sky. I was in the center of the field when little wisps surrounded me. Five of them, and each a different color. Red, blue, green, yellow and white. They danced around me for a moment, as if sizing me up, then they gathered in front of me. The wisps each transformed into tiny serpentine dragons that could likely fit into the palm of my hand._

_'Human, we have been entrusted to you. Use us well.' said the white one._

_'Watch yourself, human. This is going to hurt.' said the red one cheekily._

_Before I could open my mouth, all five of them flew into my body at once and then I knew no more._

_**One week later**_

_I opened my eyes lazily. My head was throbbing and I was in an unfamiliar room. I let my head roll to the side. A pair of big blue eyes stared into mine. I blinked. I turned my head back up and blinked again. Then looked to the side again. They were still there. It was that little boy._

"_Hello" _

_I blinked again._

"_Can you talk?"_

_I stared at him, then shook my head minutely._

"_I'll go fetch my father, then." The boy ran off for a moment, quickly returning with a tall man in his early thirties, and another boy exactly identical to him._

_The man was obviously well bred, judging by the way he held himself. His black hair was cropped short, his eyes a dark blue with a hard edge one would only see in the SAS. His build spoke of this, too._

_The two boys at his sides were identical. Twins, I guess. They had blackish blue hair, also cropped, but it was growing longer, to the point it was beginning to fall into their eyes. Their eyes were possibly the only way to tell them apart. One boy had ice colored eyes that were cheerful, while the other had sapphire colored eyes that while still somewhat cheerful, were much more reserved._

_The man tossed a bottle of water onto the pillow next to my head. I sat up slowly and grabbed it. I took a long drink and cleared my throat a few times before even attempting to speak._

"_Thank you. Where am I?" I asked. My voice was still slightly hoarse from disuse._

"_You are in my home, young man. This is the Davis mansion on the edge of London. I am Professor Martin Davis." He said in a surly, cautious voice. _

"_I see. Why am I here, and not a hospital?" I asked._

"_Normally you would be. However, one would find it odd to send a young man to a hospital with no signs of internal or external injury. Is that not correct, sorcerer?" _

_Martin was almost amused. I, however, wasn't._

"_Excuse me, but why do you call me sorcerer? I have no knowledge of magic." I was frowning by this point._

"_I believe your little friends will see to that problem." Martin pointed his finger over my left shoulder. I turned, and those five dragons were floating there. Unconsciously, I held out a hand. The white one landed in my hand and touched it's tail to my forehead. Images flooded my head and sorted themselves. Everything made sense now._

_I closed my eyes and brought my free hand up to my lips. I whistled shrilly and the dragons disappeared._

"_They are called shiki. They are my connections to the psychic plane." I said. _

"_Psychic, you say? Then perhaps you can be of help to my organization, then."_

"_Organization?" I raised an eyebrow._

"_The British Society of Psychic Research or BSPR. We specialize in studying the different types of paranormal ghost hunters are known to get into trouble, and usually come back with a little more than the occasional are in need of a private medic. Will you help us?"_

_I thought about it for a moment. It didn't seem like a bad idea. I do owe him after all._

"_Alright. You have a deal. My name is Koujo Lin." I held out a hand._

"_Welcome to the SPR" He shook it firmly._


End file.
